making news in america this morning -- >> astronauts on the shuttle "endeavour" are homeward bound. we talk to commander mark kelly about the upcoming mission and the reunion with his wife. record highs being broken from the midwest to the mid-atlantic. and the royal newlyweds are coming to america. we'll tell you where they will be going and what they will be doing when they get here. good morning. i'm peggy punker. >> and i'm daniel siebert, in for rob nelson. we begin with the mission of "endeavour." >> it will touch down home. and the commander is eagerly

awaiting a reunion with his wife, congresswoman gabby giffords. >> reporter: good morning, peggy. "endeavour" will have wracked up 123 million miles. mark kelly said this 16-day trip has been perfectly flawless. "endeavour's" final mission is winding to a close. the space shuttle is heading home. and as mark kelly tells abc's bob woodruff, the view from orbit is incredible. >> we can look out the window left of my seat and see all of florida lit up. i can see back from new orleans, into atlanta and north carolina. it's pretty spectacular. >> reporter: kelly will return to his wife, congresswoman gabrielle giffords, still recovering from an assailant's bullet. >> we're looking forward to that. >> reporter: they have 380 days in space.

but that's an american record. >> the russians have had people in space for 800 days in their career. i have a long way to go. >> reporter: "endeavour" docked with the space station one last time, to deliver a cosmic ray detector. >> about 4% of the matter that we understand. and there's other kinds of matter that we're trying to figure out. one of those is called dark matter because they don't really understand what it is. >> reporter: "endeavour" is due back on earth early wednesday. then, comes its final frontier, retirement in a california museum. just one more shuttle mission remains for nasa. "atlantis" is set to blast off july 8th, bringing the 30-year shuttle program to a close. daniel and peggy? >> an end of an era. john hendren reporting from washington. another new york banker has been arrested for allegedly

assaulting a maid. he is accused of locking the maid in his room in his hotel and then attacking her. former imf head dominique strauss-kahn is still facing charges. and the thousands that have lost their homes in joplin, missouri, for homeowners that had insurance, it could take years to rebuild that town. with the details from joplin, here's matt gutman. >> reporter: this is the highest point of joplin, offering this panoramic view, west to east, of destruction. mostly what you see around me are people's homes, destroyed. adding to that misery, learning of a housing crunch here in joplin. people with money to spend can't buy or rent a house. this woman had to pay a year's worth of rent for a deposit to get into her apartment, there were so many people competing for it. realtors are getting hundreds of calls a day. the phones don't stop ringing.

but the problem is, there's 30% fewer homes here to rent. they have nothing to offer their clients. and we canvassed hotels in this city and found there was no rooms available. we ran into one person who said she had 100 calls at the marriott. she said i have two rooms in my own house. i can offer them to anybody who can come. the circus came out. and an elephant moved debris. some found it amusing. others did not. they found it slightly cruel to the animal. it was an effort 20 try to make these people's lives slightly better. we're finding two things, one, some say they can't ever come back here. and others say because this community has bonded together and is so tight-knit, how could they ever leave? now, to surprising news about last year's earthquake in haiti. the press has obtained a u.s.

government report that says between 46,000 and 86,000 have died in the quake. that led to a multibillion-dollar aid effort. south african's president says that moammar gadhafi is ready for a truce. jacob zuma made that statement after gifting gadhafi. but summa said he is not willing to resign. eight labian army officers, including five generals, met and urged other officers to join the rebels. flexing the muscle off the coast of stralt. severe storms battered the country, spawning several waterspouts north of sydney. the news channel that captured the spouts said they reached 2,000 feet before reaching land. the unofficial kickoff to summer got off to a wintry start in the fresno foothills. inches of snow sent families packing earlier than expected. they went to swim and fish but

were forced to bundle up. record-hot temperatures slammed the midwest and northeast. four people on north avenue beach had to be hospitalized. emergency officials had so much trouble getting through the crowd, they actually evacuated the beach. the fire department used their hoses to cool off people as they left. just last thursday, chicago was in the 40s. pretty amazing, when we consider the swing there. >> amazing contrast. fire and ice here. >> good way to put it. taking a look at this morning's weather, from all around the country. it's snow out west. we're talking about in the cascades and northern rockies. rain from seattle down to redding, california. severe weather threatens the midwest to texas, with the strongest storms around chicago, milwaukee and st. louis. showers from fargo to the twin cities. the more scorching heat will hit the east coast. >> 90 from atlanta to baltimore. detroit heats up to 90.

minneapolis 77. 61 in seattle. a balmy 71 in boise. phoenix is 95. albuquerque, 84. >> quite a variation there. coming up, very important numbers out this morning about the housing situation across the country. they're bound to move the markets and also lead your businesses. and sarah palin, rolling down the road in that bus of hers. where she's going and what she's doing. you have to stay with us.

the most-widely watched housing index is out later today. and it's expected the show existing home prices in march at their lowest level since the housing crash began. the number of people who own a home is also falling, partly because there's less desire to be a homeowner. it's not that surprising that the percentage of homes being rented is increasing. it's almost 35% now. besides the crash in home prices, another reason that the large number of foreclosures are out there, which are often becoming rentals. overseas markets are mostly higher this morning. tokyo's nikkei average gained almost 2% today. hong kong's hang seng was also positive. in london, the ftse opened higher, too. when wall street reopens this morning, the dow will start above 12,400. the nasdaq index begins at 2800 points. and more americans are saving for colleges. contributions to government-sponsored savings plans are rising sharply, after plunging during the recession.

that's because parents worried about tuition hikes. but the contributions to the plans are less than five years ago. a man in suburban new york is serving to have his divorce settlement renegotiated. his wife was given cash, but it was in bernard madoff. he is suing to get a better deal. also, a new restaurant opening in the southern california. but it's not the menu that everybody's talking about. it's actually how you order. the astronaut is called stacked. and it as has an ipad on every table. >> you use the ipad to swipe your credit card and place your order. in case you're wondering, there is a live human being to bring out the food to. you can't tip the ipad. >> you can't. that's right. it probably makes a pretty good waiter. pretty accurate. >> and quiet. agreeable. when we come back, william and kate are coming to america.

we have their travel details, coming up. first, what's being called a national crisis. what's behind the shortage of life-saving drugs. the answer ahead. [ male announcer ] your eye doctor can't always be there

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and the east coast is in for another day of scorching heat, the humidity making some cities feel like nearly 100 degrees. several cities, such as baltimore and raleigh, they're expected to hit records today. the washington, d.c. area climbed into the upper 90s yesterday, forcing thousands of people to turn to cooling stations. >> drinks lots of water. now, for a look at morning road conditions. wet on i- 0, 90 and 49 through chicago. on i-55 from chicago to st. louis. and on 44 from joplin to oklahoma city. soaks i-5 from seattle to sacramento. and i-80 into san francisco. snow and icy spots on i-84 and 90 in the morn northern rockies. >> if you're flying today, a

couple weather-related airport delays. those will be in chicago and minneapolis. now so what's turning into a new national crisis. it seems unimaginable that a hospital would run out of drugs. but it's happening more and more often. sometimes the consequences are deadly. abc's ron claiborne has more. >> reporter: the shortage of pharmaceuticals are so bad, it's becoming a national crisis. >> i think it's a crisis when hospitals have to sort through this medications they can supply to patients. >> reporter: this year is on pace to be even worse. 89 new drugs in short supply in just the first 3 months. abc news' medical correspondent, dr. richard besser, first reported on this crisis last december. >> emergency medicine drugs. >> reporter: the ever-expanding list of scarce medicines including everything from ritually, to treat hyperactive

children, to immediate kagss used in chemotherapy for cancer patients. last year, cancer patient mark was being treated with a drug, and suddenly, there was none. >> the hospital called us on sunday night, and said don't come in. we might not have the drug. >> reporter: a recent survey found at least 1,000 medication errors due to the shortages. >> some of those were near-misses. but some were also deaths. >> reporter: why the shortages? some drugmakers have scaled back the production of less-profitable y less-profitable generics. there are bills in congress to make drug companies tell when they are starting to run out of medicine. sarah palin's tour bus has rolled into gettysburg, pennsylvania, after a stop in washington, d.c. palin and her aides have refused to share basic details about the

one nation tour that's going to end up in new england. the former alaska governor says she's still kind of contemplating a run for the white house. but she says a campaign would be nontraditional. it wasn't much of a holiday for hundreds of beachgoers in central florida. more than 400 people suffered painful jellyfish stings on saturday and sunday. the jellyfish washed ashore from the atlantic, primarily around cocoa beach. >> that is a buzz-kill. >> and painful. california's getting ready to welcome some royalty. britain's prince william and his wife, kate, will visit l.a. in july. >> catherine. the royal couple hasn't said what they will see or do there. but they will go to california after visiting several parts of canada. it will be kate's first trip to america. one of the nation's most high-profile college football programs, ohio state, is under

new leadership this morning. jim tressle resigned. tressle coached the bucs for a decade. looking at sports highlights, we get those from espn news. >> cole wright here with your espn news update. virginia many search of their fifth national championship on the lacrosse field. collin briggs suspended saturday. back in the mix monday, with two minutes left in the second. briggs, thank you very much. his third goal in the first half. uva up 5-3. briggs would end the game with a career-high five goals. under 13 to go in the fourth. turks down two. ryan ferrell. taking the big hit. but it didn't matter. maryland within one. under 12 to go. same score. ryan young, right out in front. making that one happen. he would tie the game at 6-6.

ten minutes to go in the fourth. same score. nick o'reilly, setting up his buddy, his tail, matt white. virginia took a 7-6 lead. later in the fourth, same score. white again, this time from long distance. felt like reaching out and touching somebody. virginia gets the "w," 9-7. white recorded himself a hat trick. joe joe reyes pitching for the blue jays as they take on the inons. top of four. inons down 2-0. shelley duncan, that one hit hard. 434th solo stroll. indians within one. bottom of the fourth, jose bautista sends this to right field. that's an rbi double. that will do it for your espn news update. don't forget, for the latest on the sports scene, watch "the highlight express." switching to entertainment news now.

reality tv's snooki has been involved in a minor fender-bender while taping in italy. it was just a matter of time. "the jersey shore" star was behind the wheel when she crashed into a police car in florence. people say she went to the police station to fill out paperwork, but was never actually under arrest. >> i thought there would be issues with the cast. >> inevitable. up next, the stories we'll be following later today. including the former governor heading back to the witness stand today. and the perfect storm causing plenty of problems in big sky country. we have the details coming up. stay with us. my whole body hurt. it was an ongoing, deep pain. i didn't understand it. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia -- thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain.

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lilly and i are back on the road again, where we belong. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. [ male announcer ] get up to $6 in savings on zyrtec® products at zyrtectv.com. and now, a look ahead at the stories we'll be watching this tuesday. space shuttle "endeavour" is spending its last day in space, wrapping up its 25th and final mission. commander mark kelly and crew are expected to make the historic landing tomorrow at kennedy space center. he is looking forward to a reunion with his wife. officials in joplin, missouri are expected to update those missing after the tornado. most have turned up unharmed. they've been able to confirm 113 deaths so far. folks are working overtime in southeastern montana to clear out a neighborhood swallowed up by high floodwaters. and the national guard is

helping residents as they struggle to clean up after 40 homes and businesses were completely inundated. the sarah palin bus tour is expected to roll into philadelphia today, after a stop at the gettysburg battlefield. palin and her aides have been secretive about her itinerary. former illinois gorn you can see the series beginning to end right here on abc. >> i know what i'm watching tonight. coming up later on "good morning america," what's up with snooki and "the jersey shore" gang overseas? >> oh, dear. we mentioned her run-in with the law. also what they're upto, coming up on "good morning america." for everybody else, we'll be back with war dogs and their lives after the service. at bayer, we're re-inventing aspirin for pain relief.

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finally this morning, from the battlefield to the backyard. as we pay tribute to our war veterans, some unsung heroes are finally getting their due. >> military dogs have been serving on the front lines for decades. now, more and more americans are lining up to take them home. here's abbie boudreau. >> reporter: not a bad retirement for 8-year-old bagger, a former military dog. >> he is certainly trained. he will sit. he will stay. he will lay down.

>> reporter: his life, now with the touchstone family in california, is much easier. >> oh. good boy. >> reporter: and much less dangerous. >> he doesn't necessarily look like a trained soldier at this point. >> reporter: the details of bagger's military career are still secret. but the touchstones know he was trained to sniff for explosives. >> they did such a service for our country. that's the least we can do. >> reporter: but finding loving homes for these dogs wasn't always possible because officially a retired war dog is considered surplus equipment. nearly all of the 5,000 war dogs who served in vietnam were either abandoned or euthanized. vietnam vet, ron aiello, says not a day goes by that he doesn't think of his canine partner, stormy. >> my dog alone saved me several times while we were in vietnam. it's a band that lasts a lifetime. >> reporter: but he had to leave her behind. now, he wants war dogs

reclassified as canine veterans, which would make it easier to adopt them, since the military would have to pay to bring them home. about 300 military dogs are put up for adoption each year. but since the raid on osama bin laden's compound, the military has reportedly received more than 400 applications after cairo, the navy s.e.a.l.s dog helped in that mission. now, he looks like a war dog. the touchstone family considers bagger a hero. with all due respect to the other dog in the house. abbie bo